WEBVTT TURNING THE CrtONCEPT OFCOMMUNITY UPSIDE DOWN AND MAKINGIT WORK AGAIN.THE DOVECOTE CAFE IS A GEM ALONGMADISON STREET, A THROWBACK TO ATIME WHEN PEOPLE WANTED TO KNOWONE ANrtOTHER.IT IS RUN BY AISHA PEW, WHO HASAN EXTENSIVE RETAIL BACKGROUNDAND HER WIFE COLE, A GRADUATE OFrtTHE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS>> WE DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH SPACESAND BLACK rtCITIES LIKE BALTIMOREWHERE THEY ARE UNAPOLOGETICALLYBLACK AND WHAT THEY BRING, THEBEAUTY THEY CREATE BECAUSE THATCULTURE rtSHIFTS AND SHAPES ALL OFUS.DEBORAH IT IS ALSO HOME TO A: PEACH UPSIDE DOWN CAKE THATSELLS OUT FAST.A FAMILY RECIPE FROM AISHA'SMOM, GILDA.rt>> TASTED AND SEE FOR YOURSELF.IT IS GOOD, RIGHT?rt>> RIGHT.DEBORAH IN THIS BUSTLING AND: VIBRANT SPACE, THE OWNERSCONNECT ENTREPRENEURS, ANDARTISTS.EVERY WEEK, THEY GIVEAWAY FRESHPRODUCE.EMBRACING BALTIMORE, REJECTINGTHOSE WHO ONLY EMPHASIZE IrtTSCHALLENGES.>> A BEAUTIFUL VIDEO ON THEPOLLS USrt APART -- WHAT FEAR DOESIS IT PULLS US APART AND MAKES ASCARED OF OUR NEIGHBORS SO WEWANT TO CREATE A SPACE THAT DOESrtTHE OPPOSITE.>> WE BELIEVE THE MAGIC OF BEINGA GOODrt NEIGHBOR FIELDSCOMMUNITY.DEBORAH A BEAUTIFUL VIDEO ON THE: CROWDFUNDING SITE INDIEGOGO,DEPICTS EFFORTS TO BUY THEIRrtMADISON STREET SPACE WHICH THEYRENT NOW.CUSTOMER REUBEN GREENE PRODUCEDIT.>> I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THEYGOT THEIR FUNDING, LIKE I SAID,THEY ARE FAMILY.rt>> IT WAS A -- BUILT IN 18 63,THE SAME YEAR THE EMANCIPATIONPROCLAMATION WAS SIGNED INTO ONTHErt MEANING -- BUILDING MEANS WEOWN OUR OWN DESTINY.DEBORAH: THE IDEA IS TO MAKEDOVECOTE A FIXTURE ALONG MADISONSTREET, THE FIRST BUSINESS TOrtCOME ALONG IN A WHILE THAT ISNOT SELLING LIQUOR OR CHIPS, BUTIS SELLING COMMUNITY.THEY HAVE A LOT OF PLANSINCLUDING ADDING A GROCERY STOREUP THErt STREET.THE OLD SLOGAN OF LEAVE INBALTIMORE AND JUST HAVE A NEWEPICENTER HERE IN RESERVOIRHILL.

With so much focus on what is wrong in Baltimore, a pair of cafe owners is trying to make it right by putting community first and cafe second.

People are talking about the Dovecote Cafe -- not just about the peach upside-down cake, but about turning the community upside down and making it work again.

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The Dovecote Cafe is a gem on Madison Street, a throwback to a time when people wanted to know one another. It is run by Aisha Pew, who has an extensive retail background, and her wife, who goes only by Cole, a graduate of the London School of Economics.

"We don't have enough spaces in black cities like Baltimore where they are unapologetically black in what they bring, the beauty they created, because that culture shifts and shapes all of us," Cole said.

It is also home to a peach upside-down cake that sells out fast. It's a family recipe from Pew's mother, Gilda.

In the bustling and vibrant space of the cafe, the owners connect with entrepreneurs and artists. Every week, they give away fresh produce and embrace Baltimore, rejecting those who only emphasize the city's challenges.

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"What fear does, it pulls us apart to protect ourselves and make us scared. We wanted to create a space that does the opposite," Pew said.

Reuben Greene, a customer of the cafe, produced a video that's posted on the crowdfunding site, Indiegogo. It depicts efforts to buy the Madison Street space, which the cafe currently rents.

"I wanted to make sure they got their funding. Like I said, they are family," Greene said.

"(The building) was built in the same year as the Emancipation Proclamation, so to be able to own our own building, we own our own destiny," Cole said.

The idea is to make Dovecote a fixture on Madison Street. It's the first business to come along in a while that is not selling liquor or chips but is selling community.

The women of the Dovecote have a lot of plans, including opening a grocery store up the street. The old slogan of "Believe in Baltimore," may have found a new epicenter on Reservoir Hill.